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Court Upholds Immunity for U.N. in Haiti Cholera Reparations Case

HeadlineAug 22, 2016

A federal appeals court in New York has upheld the U.N.'s claim of immunity in a lawsuit brought by Haitians seeking compensation for a cholera epidemic that killed more than 9,000 people. U.N. peacekeepers are accused of negligently bringing cholera to Haiti during their deployment following the 2010 Haitian earthquake. The U.N. claims it has immunity under a 1946 treaty, but the office of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged for the first time last week that the U.N. may have played a role in the epidemic. This is human rights activist Camille Chalmers talking about the reparations claim and the U.N.'s recent admission.

Camille Chalmers: “To us, yes, this is a step forward, but an insufficient one that’s coming very late, because, above all, over these six years, more people have died, and we know the United Nations, with a not very expensive investment, could contribute to the eradication of this illness in our land.”

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